Richard, as you're probably aware, the aperture of a telescope affects its
light-gathering power. The bigger the aperture, the more light gathered and
the fainter the objects you can see or photograph.

Now, since you say you live in the suburbs, I assume you mean there is good
sky visibility (good seeing) but you still have some light
pollution from the nearby city. If there is a lot of industrial pollution
in the atmosphere, that can also affect your seeing.

Normally, a 6" reflector should let you see objects of about 13th
magnitude. In a light-polluted area you might get a little less. But an 8"
would only get you under a magnitude more. So unless you want to jump right
in with something really big, my advice would be to spend your money on a
high-quality 6" with features you're likely to want and use, instead of a
low-quality 8".